Osool wants to add to its TMG position

Osool eyes TMG stake: EGX70-listed Osool Securities Brokerage (Osool ESB) plans on upping its stake in real estate blue-chip Talaat Moustafa Group (TMG) — one of the most liquid names in the EGX30 — Chairman Ayman Sabry tells EnterpriseAM. The brokerage firm’s current position in TMG is less than 5%, according to Sabry. Neither the size of the planned increase nor its timeline were disclosed.

The case for TMG speaks for itself: Sabry points to the recentjump in TMG’s hospitality business and its Saudi expansion through a partnership with the Public Investment Fund, which he says will give the group access to premium development land and financing at a scale that puts it on “an unprecedented growth trajectory.”

The move follows a string of small-to-mid-caps M&As that saw Osool break into the pharma sector. In a disclosure to the EGX (pdf), EGX70-listed Memphis Pharma said Osool for Investments acquired 27.4k of its shares for EGP 6.1 mn, bringing its direct ownership to 1.89%. Combined with the 3.18% held by related entities, the group’s total footprint reached 5.07%. Sabry tells us they snapped this stake in Pharma in an EGP 256 mn play via its affiliated vehicles, marking their first investment in the drug-manufacturing sector. Memphis’s market cap currently stands at roughly EGP 4.9 bn.

ALSO- Osool ESB recently bought a 25% stake in Mena Touristic and Real Estate Investment, another EGX70 constituent, for an undisclosed sum, and plans on acquiring more companies with strong assets, solid operational fundamentals, and “distinguished management,” Sabry adds. Mena Touristic has a small market cap of EGP 1.6 bn.

REFRESHER- Emirati capital sits on Osool ESB’s cap table. Abu Dhabi-based Amass Investment acquired 22.35% of Osool ESB in an EGP 100 mn capital increase last year, bringing Osool Holding for Financial Investment’s stake to 56.75%, according to an EGX disclosure (pdf) dated 19 April.